


A World Without Heroes

by asododsteel



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-08
Updated: 2017-06-08
Packaged: 2018-11-11 09:13:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,410
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11145396
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/asododsteel/pseuds/asododsteel
Summary: What if Tony Stark never left the cave? What if Steve Rogers was never unfrozen? What if Thor was never sent to Earth?





	A World Without Heroes

**Iron Man (2008)**

Genius, billionaire, playboy Tony Stark is imprisoned by the Ten Rings. Without access to proper medical equipment, the shrapnel hits his heart, killing him before he can invent the arc reactor or the Iron Man armor. Obadiah Stane takes over Stark Industries and continues development and production of the Jericho missile. Pepper Potts stays with the company and Happy Hogan is fired.

 

**The Incredible Hulk (2008)**

Bruce Banner hides out in Brazil, laying low and learning to control his anger. Eventually, his ally Samuel Sterns is able to create an antidote, curing him of his condition permanently. General Ross gives up chasing after the Hulk, Betty moves on and marries Leonard Samson, and Emil Blonsky never becomes Abomination.

 

**Iron Man 2 (2010)**

Ivan Vanko mourns his father’s death, his only consolation that Tony Stark died before him. He continues living in Russia with his bird, never becoming Whiplash. In order to compete with Stark Industries’s Jericho missile, Justin Hammer focuses all his energy into R&D, eventually perfecting the “Ex-Wife”. James Rhodes continues his career in the U.S. Air Force, never becoming War Machine and never metamorphosing into Don Cheadle. 

 

**Thor (2011)**

On the advice of his brother Loki, Thor doesn’t attack Jotenheim and isn’t exiled to Earth. Natalie Portman and co. never encounter any supernatural phenomenon and go about their lives. The Destroyer is never deployed and Loki stays with his loving family.

 

**Captain America (2011)**

Captain Rogers is never recovered. He misses his date.

 

**The Avengers (2012)**

Because Loki never fell off the Bifröst Bridge, he never joins Thanos to go after the Tesseract. The Chitauri are never sent to Earth, the Battle of New York doesn’t happen, and Agent Coulson isn’t killed by Loki. The Avengers are never assembled and Barton and Romanoff continue their careers as ordinary spies.

 

**Iron Man 3 (2013)**

Without Tony Stark’s tech, no one is able to connect the Mandarin bombings to Aldrich Killian’s AIM. Without the Iron Patriot armor, Killian is unable to kidnap the President and install the Vice President as his own puppet leader. As a result, Killian decides to simply continue his research, eventually producing a stable Extremis formula. 

 

**Agents of SHIELD (2013)**

Agent Coulson never meets Tony Stark and Thor, isn’t killed trying to stop Loki, and is not revived through TAHITI. As a result, he is not put in charge of his own team and Project Centipede continues unabated. Inhumans are never discovered, the Terrigen mutegen is never released, and Hive remains imprisoned indefinitely.

 

**Thor: The Dark World (2013)**

Because the Bifröst was never broken, the Nine Realms are not at war. Because Thor never met Natalie Portman, he is not alerted when she is teleported to another world, does not learn that she was infected by the Aether, and does not bring her back to Asgard. The dark elves attack Earth instead of Asgard, but are fought off by the military, using Stark Industries’s Jericho, Hammer Industries’s Ex-Wife, AIM’s Extremis soldiers, and Cybertek's Deathlok soldiers. SHIELD is unable to save Natalie Portman, but is able to recover the Aether and lock it away alongside the Tesseract.

 

**Captain America: Winter Soldier (2014)**

Never having been assigned to Coulson’s team, Agent May never informs Director Fury about Hydra. As a result, he never learns about the Hydra conspiracy, he never hires Bartoc to steal SHIELD files, and Hydra continues to grow and spread inside SHIELD. Without the Battle of New York, Secretary Pierce could not justify the need for greater security, and Project Insight never gets off the ground. Bucky Barnes is never unfrozen, Sam Wilson never comes out of retirement, and Brock Rumlow still works for SHIELD.

 

**Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)**

The orb on Morag is never discovered. Peter Quill stays with Yondu and the Ravagers, Rocket and Groot remain bounty hunters, Drax stays in prison, and Gamora remains at Thanos’s side, biding her time. Thanos keeps Ronan in his employ, and sets his sights on Earth, noting the two Infinity Stones now residing there.

 

**Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)**

Wanda and Pietro Maximoff feel no need to get revenge on Stark, the industrialist having been dead for years, and never volunteer for Baron von Strucker’s human experimentation. The Hydra facility in Sokovia remains undiscovered, but without Loki’s scepter they make little progress. Neither Ultron nor Vision are ever created, Sokovia is never destroyed, and Ulysses Klaue never becomes right handed.

 

**Daredevil (2015)**

Because the Battle of New York never happened, the Mafia, Yakuza, and Triads never make a move on Hell’s Kitchen. Wilson Fisk never gets involved with Union Allied and remains in the shadows. Ben Urich never dies and Karen Page remains a secretary. Foggy Nelson continues taking low level cases while Matt Murdock continues fighting low level crime, never getting his costume, never getting involved with the Hand, and never publicly taking down Fisk. Frank Castle never becomes inspired by the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen and finds an alternative outlet for his grief. Elektra Natchios remains with Stick, fighting the Hand and probably not dying again.

 

**Ant-Man (2015)**

Scott Lang never makes parole and remains in prison. Hank Pym decides to stop Darren Cross himself, but is killed in his home by Cross before he can put his plan into action. Hope van Dyne decides to stop Cross herself, but is captured and killed. Cross successfully mass produces the Yellowjacket suit, using the Ant-Man suit to fix the side effects, and sells them to Hydra-controlled SHIELD.

 

**Jessica Jones (2015)**

Jessica Jones’s father avoids the truck full of chemicals. Jessica’s family never dies in the car accident, Jessica never gains powers, and she is never adopted by the Walkers. Trish Walker never escapes her mother’s control and never ends up taking self defense classes. Will Simpson stays with the NYPD and never goes back on his pills. Kilgrave never takes an interest in Jessica and continues his hedonistic lifestyle. Increasingly bored in a world without superheroes, and bereft of anyone he could ever feel genuine affection for, he eventually commits suicide.

 

**Luke Cage (2016)**

Luke Cage never meets Jessica, his bar is never destroyed, and he never moves to Harlem. Without Luke Cage or the chaos cause by the Battle of New York, arms dealer Diamondback never takes any interest in Harlem, and Cornell Stokes is convinced by his cousin Mariah to give up his criminal operations and stick to running his incredibly popular and lucrative nightclub. Mariah Dillard successfully builds her community center and advances her political career. Misty continues protecting her community, and Pops continues to serve as a positive role model to urban youth.

 

**Captain America: Civil War (2016)**

Helmut Zemo’s family is never killed and he continues serving his still-existent country. The Wakandan humanitarian workers are never sent in and are never killed by Brock Rumlow, loyal agent of SHIELD. There are no superheroes for the UN to pass the Sokovia Accords against, King T’Chaka is never killed, and T’Challa never dons his suit in vengeance. Peter Parker continues fighting low level crime in his home-made costume.

 

**Doctor Strange (2016)**

Genius neurosurgeon Stephen Strange remembers not to text and drive, avoids the car accident, and keeps the use of his hands. The Ancient One, Karl Mordo, and Wong try to stop Kaecilius from summoning Dormammu but fail, the Ancient One dying before Karl can learn her dark secret. Dormammu descends upon the earth, but finds that Thanos beat him to it, the mad titan arriving to claim the three Infinity Stones that all somehow found their way to the same planet. The two cosmic beings battle, Dormammu with his dark magic and Thanos with the Infinity Stone he was sensible enough not to give away. Thanos is eventually able to overcome the dark being and continues his assault on the Earth. However, in his weakened state, his forces are devestated by SHIELD/Hydra’s Tesseract/Aether powered, Jericho/Ex-Wife wielding, Extremis/Deathlok/Yellowjacket supersoldiers, aided in part by Gamora and Nebula's timely betrayal. Having defeated the galaxy’s greatest threat and claimed its fourth Infinity Stone, the Earth makes its interplanetary debut.

 

**Iron Fist (2017)**

Danny Rand enters Rand Enterprises believing himself to be the founders’ long lost son. He is sent to a psychiatric hospital until he no longer believes so.

 

**Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)**

Ego never finds his son and spends the rest of eternity romancing aliens and listening to classic rock.


End file.
